The Life and Times of Mike
Kuwait & Iraq
Mike continued his prolific, weekly, blogging from within Iraqi territorial waters (see Blog Archive). In January he headed north from Kuwait Naval Base on a U.S. Coast Guard patrol boat for three months of life on an oil platform, leading the men and women of Task Unit FIVE SIX point FIVE point TWO (TG 56.5.2). Katie still doesn’t understand what all those numbers mean, so don’t feel too bad if you don’t either. In practicality, it meant lots of underway time on Navy 34’ patrol boats, daily gun shoots, surprisingly good food, surprisingly excellent internet, beautiful sunsets, long runs on the platform, and working shoulder to shoulder with our Iraqi partners to ensure the uninterrupted flow of oil exports to keep their nascent economy, and government, going.
Homecoming
Two and half months back in Kuwait allowed Mike time to finish his coxswain qualification on the 34’ patrol boat in the sweltering spring and summer heat. The first four days of July began a summer of change. The morning of July 1st the squadron began piling up luggage and boarding the busses for the customs process and travel to the airport. But not before Mike was finally promoted to the rank of full Commander. Fortunately the timing of the squadron’s departure allowed Mike to collect his first month of O-5 pay tax-free. The squadron finally departed early on the morning of the 2nd, stopping over in Germany (that first beer tasted really good) and Maine before touching down in the evening in San Diego. One night in America’s Finest City, and Mike was flying back east on the red-eye, home-sweet-home in Connecticut the morning of July 4th. Mike and Katie enjoyed the fireworks from the solitude of their little apartment in Plainville. They looked forward to the impending move into their first house a couple miles down the road in neighboring Southington.
The Move
After a too-short vacation and another month in San Diego, Mike set to work packing all of the young couples’ belongings. On the day of the closing, Mike began stuffing the trusty Jeep full of items and making two to three trips per day down I-84. He quickly realized they still have too much stuff. Fortunately a lot of their ‘stuff’ was still in boxes from the last move. Seven days and about 25 loads later, and Mike & Katie were just about ready for the professional movers to come and move the furniture.
Mike’s a Husky and Katie Isn’t
Mike had a whole week after the move to get ready for another life-changer: going back to school. Despite Katie’s rabid support of all things UConn (OK, maybe just sports), Mike became the first member of the Gold family to be an actual Husky. Mike matriculated in the MBA class of 2011 at the University of Connecticut School of Business, surrounding himself in academia and 50 of 51 classmates that are younger in age (and experience, for the most part). Fortunately he is one of four who are prior or current military. The class bonded during one week of orientation with academic overviews, career services 101, personality tests, team building, and social events. First semester included courses in accounting, information systems, marketing, statistics, and economics. Mike surprised himself academically, making straight A’s and one B. Not too surprising was an A+ in stats: He is, of course, married to Stat Girl.
Mike’s a Seabee and Katie Isn’t
Of course Katie isn’t a Seabee, she isn’t even in the Navy, except for being a Navy wife. But Mike finally got to recognize a small dream of his and join the Seabee community, even if just for a three-year tour. He was selected to command the Reserve headquarters detachment for Amphibious Construction Battalion ONE (PHIB CB ONE, or ACB-1) in San Diego. At 75 sailors, this unit is large enough, but Mike’s primary role is Executive Officer (XO) for the entire Naval Reserve PHIB CB ONE organization of ten detachments and 500+ sailors from Green Bay to Sacramento. Mike attended his first quarterly event in December in San Diego, and came face-to-face with the daunting task of leading such a large, diverse, dynamic organization in these trying times.
The Life and Times of Katie
Surviving without Mike
Katie says she didn’t do anything. To the casual observer, and perhaps the astute neighbor, she just went to work every day, and came home every night. But in reality Katie saved the free world from lack of sports knowledge and her the ESPN “talent” co-workers from lack of accurate statistics to pretend they came up with on their own. Immediately after work, Katie raced home to hop on Skype for her daily dose of “Mike on an Iraqi oil platform.” A couple of nagging running injuries drove Katie into the gym, where she managed to bulk up and fill out while waiting for the all clear to start running again. Mike thinks she now looks more like Jennifer Aniston than Katharine Ross, here namesake. But she’s beautiful no matter who she looks like.
MLB @ ESPN
Dream Job. Those words describe a reality TV show that rewarded the winner with full-time employment on the Entertainment Sports Network (ESPN). That guy’s no longer with the network, but Katie realized her own ‘dream job’ of sorts with ESPN. In the spring she became one of two event researchers for Major League Baseball. No longer just a baseball bookworm, she worked on both Sunday and Wednesday baseball games produced by ESPN. In the off-season she continued to work on baseball statistics projects while doing her best to avoid college basketball paper copying.
House Hunting the Nutmeg State
With their meager savings, Katie and Mike decided it was time to move up in the world and purchase their first house. Hoping that house prices would be low during the recession, they decided to commence a detailed search in the southwest Hartford metropolitan area. With some coaching from afar, Katie teamed up with a family friend to find a house that met their parameters: three-bedroom, two-car garage, central air. After one false start, Katie found a little house in a decent neighborhood, a raised ranch in the fine town of Southington (as Mike likes to say, South Farmington). Sporting a large, open downstairs ‘family room’ and hard word upstairs with tiled kitchen, and the entire house was recently renovated. “It’s like something out of Better Homes & Garden,” said Katie in an e-mail. Other than a temperamental air conditioning compressor that eventually needed replacement, they couldn’t be happier with the inside. The outside will need some help come next spring. Let’s just say the John Deere would be better put to use cutting real grass rather than crabgrass. Mom Alice has offered to spruce up the lawn with her pending master gardener certificate (also from UConn, that makes two!). Mike also has plans to rescue some of the backyard from its current swamp-like existence next to the stream. The stream has also managed to put the property into a flood zone, making us no better off than New Orleans’ 9th Ward, as least as far as FEMA is concerned.
Together
Vacation: The All-Star Game and Park City
In July, M & K went to the MLB All-Star Weekend, Katie for work and Mike to just try to meet famous ESPN-types. Both were successful. Katie worked, and Mike saw Chris Berman in the hotel lobby. Katie worked the Future’s Game, celebrity all-star game, and home run derby. Mike’s highlight was being in the left field bleachers for the home run derby, where baseball’s most juiced-up players beat up on defenseless little white baseballs to the joy and consternation of fans. Then it was off to Park City for our friends' wedding and to just hang out. Unfortunately Mike stubbed his toe something serious and spent most of the week limping around. Must have been the altitude.
Closing on the House
We finally closed on our first house. It was a signing marathon. Dad Gary’s good friend Gary Green presided over the affair as our real estate attorney. This wasn’t the only difference from previous closings out West. We got to meet the sellers face-to-face. We had negotiated pretty hard when the appraisal came back low. But we were besieged with cards and gifts from sellers and agents on both sides, so we felt like everyone was pretty happy in the end.
Final Move
M & K called in some hired guns for the final day of moving, the day we left the cozy confines of 91 Colonial Court, our home of two years. Mom Alice was a big help that day, too, keeping things from reaching the boiling point as occupants and movers, moving and cleaning collided. Mike even managed to sell the second of two wall AC units at the tail end of a hectic Friday. Saturday at the house was another crazy day of unpacking and putting away. We actually found room in our nice big kitchen for all the dishes and platters (lots of platters). Dad Robert and Step-Mom Bonnie came down bearing gifts in the form of a desk for Katie. Dad also helped Mike pick out a shiny new John Deere riding mower. It was the cheapest one that Deere makes, but continues green traditions in the Sharp family: large lawns, green thumbs, John Deere’s, and being as frugal as possible given the situation.
Returning Warrior Workshop
Mid-semester, Mike and Katie found time to attend a voluntary event for sailors returning from overseas deployment. With the exception of delays for the new G.I. Bill, Mike’s return was rather uneventful. But the event was a good learning experience heading into his new responsibilities with NR PHIB CB ONE. On the Saturday, the Navy couple headed down to Annapolis for the Navy football game. Unfortunately they had to beat feet to get back for a required dinner as part of the RWW weekend. But the game was being played in a torrential down pour by the second half, so the viewing wasn’t much to speak of by that point.
New Year’s Eve
The happy couple finally got to go somewhere for New Year’s. The choice was Mount Snow in southern Vermont. Both have ski passes of some sort to this resort, the closest major skiing to Hartford. It was a fitting end to a long year, a small reward for a lot of hard work, frugal fun in the face of financial challenges. The hard work is just beginning, as Mike heads into another semester and Katie another big year at ESPN covering the X-Games, college basketball, and baseball come spring.
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